Nyas chief
hits out at PM’s criticsAyodhya, March 18Mahant Paramhams Ramachandra Dass,
mercurial chief of the VHP-backed Ram Janambhoomi Nyas, today hit out at
the VHP leaders who criticised the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari
Vajpayee, and the BJP on the Ram temple issue but said the acquired land
should be returned to him on the basis of earlier evidence and religious
scriptures and not the ongoing excavation.

Arjun
Munda takes over reins in JharkhandRanchi, March 18Joining the BJP just three years
back, Mr Arjun Munda was today sworn in as the second Chief Minister of
Jharkhand to take the reins of another NDA government, heading a
six-member Cabinet that included three rebel ministers in the previous
Marandi regime.

Bitta
opposes clemency to BhullarNew Delhi, March 18The clemency plea of Devinder Pal
Singh Bhullar, sentenced to death by the Supreme Court, should not be
sympathetically considered by the President, as this will send a wrong
signal in the country’s fight against terrorism, said Mr Maninderjit
Singh Bitta, the chairman of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front, who was
injured in a bomb blast in the days of Punjab terrorism.

Lieut-Colonel Surya Sen Thakuri of the Nepal Army, left, and Colonel Ashok Abbey of the Indian
Army shake hands during a press conference in Katmandu, Nepal,
on Tuesday. Thakuri and Abbey will lead a team of Nepalese and Indian soldiers in an expedition to scale Mount Everest in May 2003. — AP/PTI

BJP to
evolve election strategyNew Delhi, March 18A two-day meeting of the national
executive of the BJP, scheduled at Indore from April 4, is going to
evolve the strategy for the Assembly elections in four states later this
year.

Charges
against Ansari on
March 22New Delhi, March 18A POTA court will frame charges
on Saturday against Aftab Ansari in connection with an alleged plot to
assassinate President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and kidnap Sachin Tendulkar
and Saurav Ganguly even as he was produced in another Delhi court
today in connection with charges of waging war against the country.

Unification
issue not new: Naga CMNew Delhi, March 18Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu
Rio today said the “unification” of Naga-dominated areas was
“not a new issue” and had been agreed upon by the Centre in an
accord in 1960.

Revellers
enjoy and dance in a procession taken out in Bhopal on
Tuesday to celebrate Holi.

A
group of youngsters with their faces painted to mark Holi, in Mumbai
on Tuesday. — PTI photos

Ayodhya, March 18
Mahant Paramhams Ramachandra Dass, mercurial chief of the VHP-backed Ram Janambhoomi Nyas, today hit out at the VHP leaders who criticised the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the BJP on the Ram temple issue but said the acquired land should be returned to him on the basis of earlier evidence and religious scriptures and not the ongoing excavation.

The mahant, head of the powerful Digambari Akhara, who kept the entire country on the tenterhooks ahead of the much-hyped shiladaan last year, also announced his decision not to proceed with his threat to take the carved stones to the acquired land after March 27 even as he ruled out any dialogue with Muslims on the issue.

“I don’t agree with some people in the VHP who criticised the Prime Minister and the BJP for backing out of their commitment. Mr Vajpayee became Prime Minister only after the BJP put behind its agenda and adopted the NDA agenda”, he told PTI in an exclusive interview here.

Terming as “baseless” the charge that the BJP had raked up the temple issue whenever elections were around, the mahant, however, said, “the BJP lost four state governments for our cause”.

“They are making all efforts to return the acquired land to us. It will be insincerity on our part if we do not support them, let us not forget that they are part of a coalition and have their own compulsions.

“It is an irony that the Prime Minister, who is a neutral person, is attacked both by the opponents and proponents of the temple,” he said.

Besides VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore and Ashok Singhal, Mahant Dass himself has been highly critical of the BJP leaders, including Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani, for allegedly betraying the temple cause and backtracking on their word to resolve the issue by the March 12 deadline last year.

Denying any shift in his stand, he said, “I have never given up on my legitimate demand and went ahead with the shiladaan despite the best efforts of the government to prevent it, but it would be unfair to attack someone for something beyond his capacity.”

On the on-going excavation to ascertain whether a temple existed beneath the disputed structure, the nyas chief asked “what steps have the courts taken so far to settle the issue which has been pending since the 1940’s. The religious texts and relics found so far should be the yardsticks for taking a decision in this regard. Where else is Ayodhya. Is there any other Ram Janambhoomi Nyas.”

Asked about the possibility of a dialogue, he shot back, “Muslims have never agreed to any solution through talks. No namaz has been offered there since 1934. When it was not a mosque why should I besiege them to return it to me. It rightfully belongs to me.”

“Let the Muslims be honest and return Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura to us and establish goodwill in the country,” he added.
PTI

Ranchi, March 18
Joining the BJP just three years back, Mr Arjun Munda was today sworn in as the second Chief Minister of Jharkhand to take the reins of another NDA government, heading a six-member Cabinet that included three rebel ministers in the previous Marandi regime.

The 35-year-old Mr Munda, who as Welfare Minister in the Marandi cabinet, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor M. Rama Jois at Raj Bhavan.

Mr Munda was directed by the Governor to prove his majority on the floor of the House in seven days.

The five ministers who took oath were Mr Pasupatinath Singh of the BJP, Mr Samresh Singh of the Jharkhand Vananchal Congress, Mr Sudesh Mahato and Mr Joba Manjhi from the All-Jharkhand Students Union-UGDP and Mr Madhavlal Singh (Ind), a new comer.
PTI

New Delhi, March 18
The clemency plea of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar, sentenced to death by the Supreme Court, should not be sympathetically considered by the President, as this will send a wrong signal in the country’s fight against terrorism, said Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, the chairman of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front, who was injured in a bomb blast in the days of Punjab terrorism.

“Now that a six-member Bench of the Supreme Court has dismissed the curative petition of Bhullar in the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) bomb blast case, the President, Mr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, should reject the clemency petition, who has been convicted by the highest court in the country,” Mr Bitta told The Tribune.

Outlining the procedure, he said the President would seek the views of the government, thus inviting political interference in the administration of justice. Political leaders would advise according to their narrow political considerations, he added.

“This will be a great tragedy as it will send a wrong message in the country’s fight against terrorism,” Mr Bitta said, adding that “the views expressed by political parties, the Akali Dal and the Congress, have given an impetus to secessionist forces.”

Stating that the bomb blast outside the IYC office was targeted not just against him, but also against the Congress, as it had strongly voiced its opposition to terrorism, Mr Bitta said “the appearance of Congress spokesperson and noted advocate, Mr Kapil Sibal, as counsel for Bhullar has sent a wrong message to the people and all those fighting terrorism.”

The Punjab Congress chief, Mr Hanspal, coming out in favour of commuting the death sentence of Bhullar into life imprisonment, Mr Bitta said, does not indicate the party’s commitment to fight terror, when leaders are coming out openly in favour of those convicted for terrorist acts.

New Delhi, March 18
A two-day meeting of the national executive of the BJP, scheduled at Indore from April 4, is going to evolve the strategy for the Assembly elections in four states later this year.

The meeting to be attended by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and senior party leaders is expected to adopt two resolutions on the political and economic situation as also on the developments in the Gulf region.

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Delhi are to go to the polls.

The strategy for the Assembly elections as also the agenda for the national executive was discussed at a two-and-a-half-hour meeting today of party President M Venkaiah Naidu with General Secretaries Pramod Mahajan, Sanjay Joshi, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Arun Shourie.

“The meeting discussed the agenda for the national executive and also took a serious view of the role of the Jharkhand Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari,” Mr Naqvi said.

New Delhi, March 18
A POTA court will frame charges on Saturday against Aftab Ansari in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and kidnap Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly even as he was produced in another Delhi court today in connection with charges of waging war against the country.

Designated POTA Judge S.N. Dhingra fixed March 22 for framing of charges against Ansari, alias Farhan Malik, when he was produced before him today, 13 days after the court framed charges against his nine accomplices, including six Pakistanis, in the case.

Earlier in the day, he was also produced before Metropolitan Magistrate M.C. Gupta in connection with a case of waging war against the country.

Ansari was brought here by a Delhi police team last night from Kolkata where he is lodged in Presidency Jail in connection with January 22, 2002, American Center shootout case, in which he is the prime accused.

Though the Magistrate had originally issued a production warrant against him for March 20, it allowed his production today itself after the Delhi police submitted that the Kolkata Sessions Court was conducting day-to-day trial in the shootout case and had directed that he be produced in the court on March 25.
PTI

New Delhi, March 18
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio today said the “unification” of Naga-dominated areas was “not a new issue” and had been agreed upon by the Centre in an accord in 1960.

However, he said “the integration process has to be worked out.... We have to discuss. We cannot take something by force, neither can we give away something to force. This has to be done through the will of the people,” he said at his maiden press conference here.

“Integration (of Naga areas) is a commitment of the Government of India. I am talking about Clause 13 of the 16-point agreement of 1960. The state Assembly has also passed resolutions to this effect thrice in the past,” Mr Rio, who met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Cabinet colleagues here in the past two days, said.

This statement of Mr Rio could again stir the hornet’s nest in the North-East.

The Nagaland Chief Minister replied in the negative when asked whether he had raised the issue with Mr Vajpayee.

Asked whether the issue was akin to the stand of the NSCN(I-M) on ‘Greater Nagaland’, he said “I don’t know about their demands, but it is not a question of Greater or Bigger Nagaland”.

On the Naga peace process, Mr Rio said his government was committed to it and was considering launching a “peace mission” as was done by Jaiprakash Narayan, Reverend Michael Scott and B.P. Chaliha three decades ago.

Asked to comment on reported remarks by Centre’s interlocutor K. Padmanabhaiah, regarding the disarming of the NSCN(I-M), Mr Rio said “those are not statements which will help arrive at a solution.... No one should give his own comments like this.”

“Negotiations are on for a compromise.... There should be a give and take policy... and in a dialogue like this, nothing is impossible,” he said, adding that the peace talks were “going on in the right direction and we fully support the peace process”.

To a question on reported threats to the newly elected legislators allegedly by the NSCN (Khaplang), he said the state government had not only raised the matter with the head of the Ceasefire Monitoring Group for strict adherence to the ground rules, but also asked the NGOs to “reason out” with the outfit and call for peace.

“Our government is not against any faction. Rather, we want to bring them all together so that the Nagas have one voice.... We want to see that everyone becomes part of this (political) settlement,” he said in reply to questions.

The Chief Minister said his government’s approach was to use the civil society and NGOs like Naga Hoho, churches, students’ organisations and human rights bodies to bring about unity among the “underground factions” of the NSCN.

“A united overground civil society should carry forward the message to the underground factions and (strive to) bring unity among them so that they speak with one voice,” he said.

On his meetings with Mr Vajpayee and others, Mr Rio said he had sought central help in meeting the “inherited” deficit of Rs 365 crore and the Centre had assured of necessary help.

NATIONAL BRIEFS

MAN
THROWN IN ‘HOLIKA DAHAN’ FIREPATNA: A person suffered burn injuries after he was thrown in “Holika dahan” fire by revellers here following an altercation on Monday night leading to tension in the area, the police said. The owner of a betel-vending kiosk was injured and hospitalised after he was thrown in the fire by the revellers.
PTI

STRIKE HITS LIFE
IN KERALA
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Suspected LDF workers set ablaze a police jeep at Panur in Kannur district on Tuesday as the opposition-sponsored dawn-to-dusk strike in protest against the “police repression” on LDF marchers on Monday got underway disrupting normal life across the state. Though the police fired at those who torched the jeep, they escaped unhurt, the police said, adding that a “steel” bomb was recovered from nearby Chokli.
PTI